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THE ANCHOR BIBLE DICTIONARY - Ancient Hebrew Poetry

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identification as an Essene settlement, it can be reconciled with this identification. (See<br />

further Vermes 1981: 108; de Vaux 1973: 128–29.)<br />

5. Relation to the Temple. We have seen already that the evidence of Josephus is<br />

ambiguous, but at least it shows clearly that the Essenes were at variance with the rituals<br />

usually practiced in the Jerusalem temple. In 1QS there is silence on this issue (as there is<br />

in Josephus’ main account in JW 2 and in the parallel in Hippolytus). The information in<br />

CD is also ambiguous, but can be reconciled with the data in Josephus. In CD 6:11–13<br />

we read that “none of those who have entered the covenant shall enter the sanctuary to<br />

kindle his altar in vain.” This passage, like Ant 18.1.5 §18–19, is open to different<br />

interpretations but at least implies dissent from the official temple ritual. The ambiguity<br />

lies in the phrase in vain: it may be that sacrifice was permitted if the proper (sectarian)<br />

regulations were observed, or it may be that all access to the temple was prohibited. The<br />

archaeological evidence from Qumran has not clarified this situation. Carefully buried<br />

animal bones have been found; some scholars have taken these as evidence for the<br />

practice of sacrifice at Qumran (e.g., Cross 1961: 102), but others suppose that they were<br />

the remains of religious meals which had been ritually buried (de Vaux 1973: 14). A<br />

number of passages in 1QS speak of the life of the community as a substitute for the<br />

sacrificial cult (5:6; 8:3; 9:4). While this does not necessarily exclude the practice of<br />

sacrifice, it shows how the ritual could have been dispensed with. Josephus’ statement<br />

that the Essenes sent offerings to the temple would seem to be in accordance with the<br />

situation envisaged in CD 11:19: “let there be sent to the altar of holocaust neither<br />

offering nor incense nor wood by the hand of a man defiled by any defilement<br />

whatsoever, permitting him thus to render the altar unclean . . .” Presumably offerings<br />

could be sent if the bearer was not defiled.<br />

6. Religious Beliefs and Ideas. Josephus’ statement that the Essenes are wont to leave<br />

everything in the hands of God (Ant 18.1.5) accords well with the deterministic theology<br />

of the scrolls (e.g., 1QS 3:15: “from the God of Knowledge comes all that is and shall be,<br />

and before they were, he established all their design . . .”). The main doctrinal issue in the<br />

Gk sources, however, is the immortality of the soul, which is mentioned in both JW 2 and<br />

Ant 18. There has been considerable debate as to whether this belief is attested in the<br />

scrolls, or even whether some more Semitic conception of an afterlife underlies Josephus’<br />

hellenized formulation. The problem concerns the rather vague formulation of personal<br />

eschatology in the scrolls. In 1QS 3:7–8 the visitation of all who walk in the spirit of life<br />

“consists of healing and abundance of bliss, with length of days and fruitfulness and all<br />

blessings without end, and eternal joy in perpetual life and the glorious crown and<br />

garment of honor in everlasting light.” The language of this passage is reminiscent of the<br />

Psalms (e.g., Ps 16:11: “thou dost show me the path of life; in thy presence there is<br />

fullness of joy”) or of Proverbs (e.g., Prov 8:35: “he who finds me finds life and obtains<br />

favor from the Lord”), which are not usually thought to imply a belief in an afterlife. In<br />

1QS, however, the lot of the Children of Light is contrasted with that of the Sons of<br />

Darkness. The visitation of the latter “consists of an abundance of blows administered by<br />

all the Angels of Destruction in the everlasting Pit by the furious wrath of the God of<br />

vengeance, of unending dread and shame without end, and of the disgrace of destruction<br />

by the fire of the region of darkness” (1QS 4:12–13). Since this passage clearly implies<br />

punishment after death for the wicked, it is hardly conceivable that the “eternal life” of<br />

the righteous does not also extend beyond the grave. The “eternal life” of the community

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